Family ties are only so strong
by Cestrel
Summary: Discontinued When Dan comes back ten years from now he learns that Piper is married to Leo and has children. Refusing to accept that Piper is happy with her new life, he sets to break the family apart.
1. A surprise visitor

Disclaimer: If I owned any of the characters seen on Charmed, this wouldn't be a fan fiction.  
  
A/N: If my grammar and/or spelling are terrible, please remember that English is not my mother tongue.  
  
A/N2: Piper's children: Wyatt - 10, Melinda - 9 and Emily - 7. Phoebe's children: Penelope - 10, Phyllis - 6. Paige's children: Patricia - 10, Pauline - 8, Astrid - 7.  
  
---  
  
Inside the Halliwell Manor was chaos. The eight children were playing "it". Phyllis was "it", as usual. Her legs were shortest.  
  
"I feel sorry for her," Melinda said to Penelope as they hid behind the couch.  
  
"Me too. You say we get caught?"  
  
Melinda seemed to think it over.  
  
"Nah," she said, "I don't want to."  
  
The two sniggered. They were best friends, although Nellie was a year older than Mellie, and nearly always seen together.  
  
Phyllis looked around. She thought she had heard sniggering. She was getting desperate. It wasn't fair! Just because she was the youngest, why should she always be stuck being "it"? She thought she heard movement behind the couch and decided to investigate the matter.  
  
"She's coming towards us," whispered Mellie.  
  
"Wait a bit," replied Nellie. "Let her get close, then, we run."  
  
They waited. Suddenly they both ran away, but in different directions. Phyllis decided to follow Nellie. She was, after all, Phyllis's sister, whilst Mellie just was the cousin.  
  
Nellie ran into the hallway. Phyllis followed, but she couldn't keep up with her four years older sister.  
  
The doorbell rang.  
  
---  
  
Dan Gordon had been in San Francisco a week now. He had spent the last thirteen years in Portland, thinking of his one true love, Piper Halliwell. He had been heartbroken when she had told him that she loved that Leo more than him.  
  
But now he was back, and determined to win her over. How should he start? He decided to see if her club, P3, still was there.  
  
P3 was more crowded than he remembered. He looked around for a familiar face, but saw nothing. He edged his way closer to the bar. Wait! Wasn't that Leo? But whom was he talking to?  
  
It was a girl. A redhead. She was rather attractive. Dan smiled. So Leo and Piper had broken up. The coast was clear. Mission Attract Piper was about to start.  
  
---  
  
"Can you take it?" Aunt Piper yelled down the stairs to the children. She was probably in the attic updating the Book.  
  
Nellie went towards the door. Who would visit them? The only visitor she could think of them ever having would be Uncle Darryl, and he was in Hawaii with his son and wife. She felt a hand in hers and looked down. Phyllis looked up at her with big eyes.  
  
"Do you think it's a demon?" she asked, scared.  
  
"Silly, Phil. Demons don't ring the doorbell."  
  
Whoever was outside ringed again.  
  
Nellie opened the door and stared at the stranger outside.  
  
He glanced nervously at them.  
  
"Hi. I was wondering if a Piper Halliwell lived here."  
  
How did this ugly guy know Aunt Piper?  
  
"Yeah, sure," said Nellie and yelled: "Aunt Piper!" Phyllis thought that they weren't giving Aunt Piper enough information, so she decided to put in some more.  
  
"There's a man here with a scary hairdo to see you!"  
  
Dan felt himself colour up. He wished Piper would hurry up. He liked his hair, and couldn't see what was so scary about it.  
  
"Phyllis, you shouldn't say that!" the older of the girls reproached the younger. He smiled thankfully at her. At least someone appreciated the hours he spent trying to get his hair as it was.  
  
"But don't you think it's ugly?"  
  
"Of course I do, but it isn't polite to say that kind of thing about people when they can hear you!"  
  
So mush for appreciating the care he took with his hair. He smiled grimly and wished more than ever that Piper should hurry up. There she was! She had hardly changed at all. She was still the beautiful woman he knew. After Piper trailed a young boy. He looked very bored.  
  
"Can I go now?" he asked impatiently.  
  
"Yes, yes, run along Wyatt," Piper said and turned her attention towards the door. Her jaw dropped.  
  
"Dan!"  
  
---  
  
"Do you want coffee? Tea? Anything?"  
  
Piper had brought Dan into the living room and seated him in the sofa. The children were playing in Melinda and Penelope's room.  
  
"Coffee, please."  
  
A couple of minutes later she returned with two steaming cups and a couple of biscuits on a tray.  
  
"So, what brings you here after all these years?"  
  
"I was in town, and thought I'd stop by and say hi."  
  
"Really?" Piper said lightly, taking another bite of her biscuit.  
  
Dan said nothing. She didn't know how to interpret that silence.  
  
They talked for a while. Dan told Piper all about his business trouble in Portland and about how his boss was a jerk and how he had never liked Portland and how he was so far away from his family and how he had never had any luck with women and how he had got a dog for comfort but the dog was totally useless.  
  
Then he said: "I'm sorry you and Leo didn't work."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I saw Leo at P3 with an attractive young girl. Redheaded. I never cared much for red hair."  
  
Piper was about to tell Dan that she and Leo were married and the redhead was her sister when Emily came in crying.  
  
"Mommy, Mellie, Nellie and Patty said I'm to little to play with them!" she sobbed.  
  
"Well, why don't you go and play with Astrid?" Piper asked her youngest daughter as she lifted her onto her lap and rocked her.  
  
"I can't! We had an argument! She said she never wanted to see me again!"  
  
"Well, what about Pauline?" Piper knew that whatever argument Emily and Astrid had had, they were bound to work it out by themselves.  
  
"She's always reading and I don't like reading!"  
  
"But Phyllis? You know Phyllis loves playing with you!"  
  
"I don't want to play with Phyllis! She's a baby!"  
  
"Alright then," Piper smiled. "You can sit here with me and Uncle Dan."  
  
"He's not Uncle Dan. He's a stranger! And he's ugly."  
  
"Emily," Piper scolded. "Uncle Dan is not ugly."  
  
"He is too," Emily insisted.  
  
"You have children?" Dan asked in disbelief.  
  
"Three. Wyatt, Melinda and Emily."  
  
"But who's the father? Not Le.?" Dan broke off as he stared at Piper. They had kids, and he went to a club with a redhead! The nerve of it! And it was Piper's club!  
  
At that moment Leo and Paige came in. Leo gave Piper a kiss on her cheek.  
  
"What's the matter with you then?" he asked Emily who was still giving of the occasional sob.  
  
"Daddy!" Emily said happily and threw her arms around him. The sobbing stopped immediately.  
  
"How was the club?" Piper asked Paige.  
  
"It was great. I had to guard you husband closely, he was very popular among the ladies."  
  
Dan was confused. Piper knew the redhead Leo was dating? Who was she? And what did she mean, guard Leo?  
  
He coughed a little.  
  
"Oh sorry," Piper said immediately. "Dan, this is Paige, my sister. Paige, this is Dan, an old friend of mine."  
  
As soon as Leo saw Dan, the smile vanished of his face. 


	2. First impressions

'Damn it!' Dan thought. 'Damn it! I wait until the time is right to come and see my one true love and she's married with three children! Well, this changes nothing. In fact, it might make things easier. If I can only strike the right chords, then it might make things a lot easier. Children can never keep their mouths shut.'  
  
He smiled at Emily. "You must be Emily," he said sweetly. "Why don't you give a hug to Uncle Dan, eh?"  
  
"You're not Uncle Dan!" Emily said sourly. "You're ugly!"  
  
Dan forced the smile to stay on his face. 'Be nice,' he commanded himself. 'Sooner or later she will trust you. Just make sure they're all fooled'  
  
"Oh, surely you don't mean that," he said out loud. He tried tickling her under the chin, but she pulled away and glared at him.  
  
The rest of the cousins came walking into the room, followed by Aunt Phoebe. Phoebe seeing Dan was, to say the least, surprised. After all, she hadn't seen him since he moved to Portland thirteen years ago. Each of the cousins was presented to Dan. None of them reacted very well to him, except for Wyatt. Dan shook his hand, as if he were an adult. The others he treated like miniature dolls.  
  
"How sweet they are. Pretty as flowers," he said with a charming smile. The four adults drew their breaths. The seven girls formed a threatening group.  
  
"Don't you dare say we're pretty like flowers," Mellie spat out.  
  
"You are so sexist," Patty snapped.  
  
"Just because we're girls," Nellie hissed.  
  
Piper bent down towards the girls. "Honey, Uncle Dan doesn't know you're super-powerful witches with great powers," she whispered.  
  
"We're super-powerful witches and we're gonna kick your ass if you ever say those things again," Phyllis exclaimed. Dan smiled weakly. Was it his fate to screw up with the Halliwell girls?  
  
---  
  
"Is he going to take Aunt Piper away?" asked Astrid a little later. "He's giving her the googly eyes."  
  
"Yuck," responded Pauline. "That's indee . indece . indecent." She stumbled across the complicated word. Pauline picked up a great many complicated words when she was reading. The only problem was pronouncing them correctly.  
  
Dan cursed himself for being so obvious. He should have known, children are experts at picking up atmospheres. It could wreck all of his plans. Piper looked at the frown on his face.  
  
'What is he thinking?' she pondered. 'He doesn't look too happy about seeing me married with three children and five nieces. Does he still like me? Astrid says he's giving me the 'googly eyes', but Astrid is a hopeless romantic. I believe she'd even spot love between Nellie and Wyatt, if they didn't fight so much. Well, even if he does like me, I'm happily married to the best man in the world,' she concluded and looked fondly at her wedding ring.  
  
---  
  
"I take it you didn't like Mom's friend?"  
  
"Are you kidding me? Didn't you see how he looked at her?" Nellie and Wyatt were in the middle of one of their fights again. "I'm telling you, the only reason he came back was to win her back."  
  
"Why didn't he come back sooner then?" Wyatt snapped. "Look, I'm not saying that he's a blessed saint, all I'm saying is that he might not be all you say he is! Come on, not every guy out there want to steal Mom."  
  
"This one does," retorted Nellie bitterly. "And believe me, he'll do anything to break Aunt Piper and Uncle Leo up. I can always sense the desperate ones."  
  
"Okay, so Aunt Piper introduces him as an old friend, an you immediately assume that he's the devil in disguise! Of all the childish notions."  
  
"I'm not saying that he's all bad, I'm saying that he's in love with Aunt Piper and his love is in the desperate stage. Goodness Wyatt, learn to listen! You are so sure you're right; you shut your ears to anything you don't like. No, don't interrupt. That's the truth and you know it. You're so damn obsessed, yes obsessed, with being popular you lost yourself along the way, pal!"  
  
Wyatt listened in disbelief. "I thought this argument was about Uncle Dan and weather or not he's in love with Aunt Piper." He couldn't believe what Nellie said about him. Nellie was always so diplomatic and calm, just like Mom, and she rarely flared up. "I'm leaving."  
  
"Just because you lost this argument. Yeah, you were never good at facing defeat." Nellie mocked after him. She sat down on her bed. Arguments always made her feel bad. The problem was that she and Wyatt disagreed on most things Why had she exploded like that? Wyatt might be an idiot, but that was no reason for her to blow up. At that moment her bedside lamp blew up.  
  
"Hello," Mellie said. "I've been calling your name for ages. It's dinner, and Mom's FRIEND has gone home, thank god."  
  
"You didn't like him either?"  
  
"Are you kidding me? Did you see how he looked at her? I'm telling you, the only reason he came back was to win her back."  
  
"Wait, you overheard our entire conversation?" Nellie stared at her best friend.  
  
"Yup," said Mellie, not at all bothered. "Come on, what are you standing there for?" 


	3. A nice little shock for Dan

A couple of weeks had gone by, and Dan hade made no progress with the children, apart from Wyatt, who now trusted him completely. But he needed to get all three of them on his side. He had bought the house next door again, but spent most of the time at Piper's house. He quickly realised that Leo was away working a lot.  
  
'Great,' he planned. 'This is working out better than I thought. If I just do this right, it is going to be so easy. Family ties are only so strong, nothing that can't be broken up with a few well-chosen words to the right people.'  
  
His only problem was the girls. None of them had forgiven him for 'pretty like flowers'. How was he supposed to know that they fancied themselves as wicked witches instead of princesses? Really, any other girl would be PROUD to be 'pretty like a flower'! But the problem still remained. How was he to gain their trust? Then the solution suddenly dawned on him  
  
'Candy!' he thought excitedly. 'The way to any child's heart is through candy!' Things were definitely working out for him.  
  
---  
  
"Can I have more candy?" asked Emily sitting on Dan's lap. "Please, Uncle Dan?"  
  
"Sorry sweetheart," he stroked her hair fondly. "Uncle Dan has run out of candy. Come back any day you want, and I promise to have a huge bowl of candy, just for my favourite Emily!"  
  
Little did Emily know that he smiled not from affection for her, but from pleasure knowing that his plan was working.  
  
'Two down,' he thought, 'and one to go.'  
  
---  
  
"Now," Mellie asked looking through the BOS. "What can we do to Lover Boy next door?"  
  
"We're not supposed to use magic to punish guilty or for personal gain!" Nellie protested. "Consequences, remember."  
  
Mellie smiled. "Ah, but this isn't punishing guilty or personal gain. Think of it as a security measure. I mean, scary hair, an obsession for a girlfriend, and a high level of jealousy combined with high level of IQ and, WHAM, innocents beware, the Demon of Other's Wives is out to steal your girlfriend."  
  
Nellie fell off her chair laughing.  
  
"Now will you help me or not?" asked Mellie impatiently. "Because if you are, you're not exactly helping, lying there on the floor and wriggling like a worm."  
  
"Sorry," Nellie laughed and dried her eyes, which had become watery from the laughing. She went over to Mellie and the Book.  
  
"We might do something to his hair!" she suggested. "I'm pretty good at writing spells. Oh, let's see . It isn't good, but  
  
'Where we go we see Dan's horrid hair  
  
Take away this cause of despair'," Nellie recited.  
  
The two girls laughed outright.  
  
"Oh my god, I can't believe you," Mellie choked between snorts.  
  
---  
  
Dan woke up. He had had a bad night and felt terrible. He got himself out of bed and into the bathroom. He washed his face in cold water to wake up properly. Now, on to his hair. He took the large bottle of grease from the cupboard and stood in front of the mirror. His face fell. He couldn't believe his eyes.  
  
Dan's hair was gone. 


	4. Lying to Wyatt

A/N: Thanks to all my beautiful reviewers! Keep them up.  
  
TheImaginator: The names of the children, whose children they are, and their ages are mentioned at the top of the first chapter.  
  
---  
  
"PENELOPE AND MELINDA! WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Piper and Phoebe stormed into the attic.  
  
"Look, Mom, I know it looks bad, but it's not what it looks like," Nellie tried feebly.  
  
"WHAT have we said about personal gain?"  
  
"But it wasn't for personal gain," tried Mellie, equally feeble.  
  
"You both are grounded for two weeks! And there will be NO magic for a month!"  
  
"WHAT! No magic for a MONTH! But Mom, that's UNFAIR! We didn't do the personal gain thingy!"  
  
"GO!"  
  
"I can't believe they wouldn't listen to us," complained Mellie on their way back. "It's not like it was personal gain or anything! But that's right. They never listen to us!"  
  
"Why do I hate our Moms right now?" asked Nellie between clenched teeth.  
  
---  
  
"Uncle Dan, what happened to your hair!" gawked Wyatt. Uncle Dan looked very different now.  
  
"I don't know. It's" he paused a bit, "gone."  
  
"I see that," Wyatt pointed out. "I just wondered what happened."  
  
"How should I know," Dan snapped, bur then reproached himself. 'Don't get mad, this doesn't change anything. Just get on with the plan.' "Wyatt," he said. "You and I are pals, right?"  
  
"Right," Wyatt agreed, looking puzzled.  
  
"I think it's time we had a little talk, you and I."  
  
"Sure," Wyatt was more puzzled.  
  
Dan took a deep breath. 'Right. Time to see if he buys you're story. Be calm, you're going to get her in the end.'  
  
"Wyatt, I want to tell you a little secret."  
  
"What secret?"  
  
"I think you'd better sit down." Wyatt did so.  
  
"Wyatt, Leo is not your father."  
  
"WHAT? Of course he is!"  
  
But Dan could see Wyatt doubted. 'He's buying it,' he thought happily. 'Prepare yourself for a new husband, Piper.'  
  
"No he isn't . son."  
  
A/N: Oooo. Evil me! Is Wyatt going to buy Dan's lie? Sorry that the chapter is so short, but I wanted the next chapter to be a, well, different chapter. 


	5. Lying to Emily

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating! We had to go to England for a short while and I didn't have access to a computer.  
  
---  
  
Wyatt stormed into the Manor. He couldn't believe it. His parents had lied to him for ten years! Ten long years! How could they not have told him? About his own Dad, he had a right to know! He slammed the door and stamped up the stairs into his room. He threw himself on his bed. He felt as though his insides were boiling over. How could they? And Uncle Dan, his dad, how could he just have left him to Leo? He took his Teddy, the one Dad, no, LEO, had given him for his third birthday and threw it into the wall. He would never speak to his parents again.  
  
---  
  
"MELINDA AND PENELOPE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO DAN'S HAIR?" Piper stormed into their rooms. When she had caught them with the BOS, she had assumed they cast a love spell, or a popularity spell. But now she knew better. As soon as she had seen Dan at the door, she knew exactly what their spell had done.  
  
"Did it work?" asked Nellie excitedly.  
  
"What happened?" inquired Mellie impatiently.  
  
"WHAT SPELL DID YOU TWO CAST?"  
  
"Um, Nellie made it up.  
  
'Where we go we see Dan's ugly hair  
  
Take away this cause of despair'," recited Melinda. "So, what happened? What does he look like?"  
  
"You TOOK AWAY his HAIR? I can't believe you two. I really thought we had taught you better!"  
  
Mellie and Nellie looked at each other. They didn't think Piper would be so receptive to their 'security measures' idea. They were sure they would be asked to reverse the spell. Sure enough;  
  
"I DEMAND that you reverse the spell!" Piper yelled. "Poor Dan, he couldn't for the world understand what had happened to his hair!"  
  
"Ugh," they both thought hard, until Nellie came up with yet another spell.  
  
'Being bald was not Dan's fate  
  
Return his hair to it's normal state'.  
  
Happy now? I even made it go back to the ugly state it was like before!"  
  
Piper left them.  
  
"Well, at least we know that he was bald a few hours. I wish I could have seen him, though." Nellie had the distinct feeling that Mellie wasn't sorry at all about what she had done.  
  
---  
  
Dan was glad to see that Wyatt had been so receptive to his story. It was so much easier to break up the parents if the children didn't trust them. He had known a great many families to fall apart when children stopped trusting their parents. When the children were on his side, that was when he made his move towards Piper. He could hardly wait.  
  
He hadn't realized how many mirrors there were in his house! He tried to avoid looking at himself, now that all his hair was gone, but it was practically impossible. He stole a glance at himself. His jaw fell. His hair was back to its normal state! He hadn't just imagined being bald, had he? No, Wyatt and Piper had seen it too. He hadn't imagined it. But how? He wondered as the doorbell rang. He went and opened it. It was Emily. He smiled. Fate was playing right into his hands. Now what story was he going to feed her with?  
  
"Emily, you know you had an Aunt Prue once, right?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah. She died before I was born," Emily replied. She didn't understand what that had to do with Uncle Dan.  
  
"Do you know how your Aunt Prue died?" he asked again.  
  
"No, Mommy and Daddy promised me they'd tell me when I'm older."  
  
"I am going to tell you right now. Your Daddy killed your Aunt Prue."  
  
"No!" Emily panicked. Her Daddy was a Whitelighter, he didn't kill, he healed! "That's not true! Daddy loves all his charges; he wouldn't kill any of them, not Mom, mot aunt Prue, not Aunt Phoebe, not Aunt Paige! He wouldn't!" she rambled helplessly. She couldn't help but doubt. Uncle Dan was so kind and nice and he never lied, not yet. Besides, what had he to gain by lying?  
  
'Daddy loves all his charges'. So Leo had a job to do with the sisters. He could use this.  
  
"Yes, but your Daddy loves your Mommy more. Your Daddy failed." His voice was barely more of a whisper when he finished. Emily stared at him, horror- struck. Then she ran out of the room. 'Two down, one to go,' he thought again, and grinned evilly. This was going to be fun. 


End file.
